Empire State Building
엠파이어 스테이트 빌딩
The Empire State Building is a 102-storey skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was designed in the Art Deco style, a 1920s and 1930s fashion for bold, stepped shapes and shiny geometric decoration, and it was finished in 1931. Its roof is about 381 metres high, and with the tall mast and antenna on top it reaches about 443 metres. The name comes from "the Empire State", a nickname for New York State.
See it on the 3D globe →At a glance
- Country
- United States
- Location
- New York City, USA
- Built
- 1931
- Height
- 443 m
- Type
- Skyscraper
Quick answers
Where is Empire State Building?
Empire State Building is in New York City, USA, United States.
When was Empire State Building built?
Empire State Building was built in 1931.
How tall is Empire State Building?
Empire State Building is about 443 m tall.
An Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1931 that reigned as the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years.
When it opened, it was the tallest building in the world, and it kept that title for almost 40 years, until the World Trade Center's North Tower passed it in 1970. Millions of people visit its observation decks on the 86th and 102nd floors every year, and it has appeared in more than 250 films and TV shows, most famously King Kong in 1933, where a giant ape climbs to its top.
How it was built
Construction began on 17 March 1930 on the site of an old hotel, the Waldorf-Astoria, and the building opened on 1 May 1931, only about 410 days later. At times the steel frame rose by about four and a half storeys a week. More than 3,400 workers were on site on its busiest day, including many Irish and Italian immigrants and Mohawk ironworkers from near Montreal in Canada, who bolted together the steel beams high in the air. Photographer Lewis Hine took pictures of them at work that are still famous today.
The race to the sky
In the late 1920s several New York buildings were racing to be the tallest in the world. The nearby Chrysler Building briefly won in 1930 by secretly raising a steel spire. The Empire State team changed their design many times to be sure they would beat it. They added a tall mast on top, which was meant to be a docking post for airships, giant floating balloons that carried passengers. Strong winds made that far too dangerous, so the idea was dropped, and the mast later became a base for TV and radio antennas.
Visiting today
Visitors ride lifts to the 86th-floor observatory, which has both an indoor gallery and an open-air deck, or go higher to the glass-walled observatory on the 102nd floor. At night the top of the tower is lit with coloured lights; since 2012 its LED system can show millions of colours to mark holidays and special events. Every year runners race up 1,576 steps from the lobby to the 86th floor in the Empire State Building Run-Up.
Fun facts
- The building went up so fast that it was finished in about 410 days, at times rising more than four storeys a week.
- Its spire was first designed as a mooring mast where airships could tie up, but it was too windy; only one blimp ever made a brief stop there, to deliver a bundle of newspapers.
- The fastest time in the stair race to the 86th floor is 9 minutes and 33 seconds.
- In 1945 a bomber plane lost in thick fog crashed into the 79th floor, yet the building's strong steel frame kept it standing.
On the globe
The model shows the Art Deco skyscraper with its stepped tower and tall spire in New York City. Zoom in to see how the building narrows in steps as it rises toward the mast.
Quiz time
Which is taller: Empire State Building or Flatiron Building?
Show the answer
Empire State Building. (443 m vs 87 m) Flatiron Building →
Nearby on the globe
.jpg){kind=link}
Sources
- Read more on Wikipedia
- Empire State Building — Wikipedia
- 엠파이어 스테이트 빌딩 — 위키백과
- History — Empire State Building (official site)
Updated: 2026-10-13